Our first stop in Tennessee was Memphis. In the morning we went to the Civil Rights museum which was very moving as it’s built into the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. A short film was playing at the center that day and we unknowingly walked by the key speaker in the documentary, Rev. Billy Kyles who was giving an interview. Kyles, who was there the day MLK was shot was one of the few witnesses at the scene and in the film he describes the tenacity and leadership that Martin Luther King Jr. possessed. The documentary was moving as well and highlighted an improvisational speech that Luther gave the night before he was assassinated, the speech is known as the Mountaintop Speech. After leaving the museum I felt somewhat in a daze to really come to terms with how America once was and how far we still need to come as a society and as a country.

There isn’t much vegetarian fare in Memphis, in fact there really isn’t any…so we decided to go to BB Kings on Beale Street which was the only menu we could find that offered something we could eat. I ordered the collard greens not knowing that they come with pork in them, whoops! Afterwards we went to the Sun Records recording studio which recorded greats such as Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. It was incredible to me to be in the same studio where the founders of rock & roll recorded their unique sound. We also got to see the ribbon mic and guitars used by famous singer songwriters. The bottom of the studio has an old soda shop where they sell root-beer and milkshakes among other gift shop items. The studio is still open and at night serves as a full service recording studio.

After Memphis we headed up to Nashville also known as Music City to see sites such as the Grand Ole Opry, The Gibson Bluegrass Guitar Factory and Music Row.  We took a nice stroll along the campus trails at Vanderbilt University which houses old brick buildings. We grabbed lunch at Cafe Coco which had a great selection of vegetarian and vegan fare. I had a toasted croissant topped with a black bean burger, cheese, spinach and artichoke dip and onions, even though it sounds like a strange combination it happened to be absolutely delicious and just melted in my mouth. Jack had the tortellini in a cream blush sauce with some garlic bread which was also very tasty. Afterwards we took another walk heading towards some of the most oldest and famous buildings in the area such as the Elliston Place Soda Shop.

Both Memphis and Nashville had good, fun, and lazy vibes. Please see our full set here.